I’ve been developing a theory called Essential Commons as a field for negotiation of what James Quilligan calls “…our mutual commons – the dynamic interrelationship of human subjectivity and material substance,” (Kosmos Journal. Spring/Summer, 2013).

As policies and practices are beginning to better account for the commonality of our materiality, it’s critical that we consciously evolve our understanding of the intangible drivers of our subjectivity. Essential commons is a domain for accessing fundamentals of unity between self and all else through inquiry into the axiology (values), metaphysics (causality), and ontology (nature of being) of the transformative impulse toward commons consciousness.

Essential commons holds integral space for the very essence of our individual and collective commons concerns. In the spirit of statistician George Box who said, “all models are wrong, some are useful,” the essential commons can be broken down into civil commons, spiritual commons and universal commons.

As the domain where subjectivities come together, civic space is where we create who we have to be to do what we want to do. Civil commons is the ground for establishing every sentient being as a noble seed. It’s a domain of inquiry into the personal and communal “soil” (programs, economics, policy, law, resource management, opportunity, nourishment, connectivity…) required for all seeds to thrive.

Spiritual commons makes sacred space in the commons conversation as a domain of inquiry into the life-force that is unique in each of us and common to all. It is a clearing for inter- and trans-denominational dialog, visionary impulses, wisdom traditions, humanism, metaphysics, spiritual insight and renewal, vibes, and mojo. Spiritual commons is a domain for syncing up our inner GPS’s toward negotiating all of our commons in Golden Rule compliance.

Scientists agree that we only know about 5% of reality and that about 95% of what’s so in the universe is a common frontier. As we continue to unravel the majority mystery we’re part of, the universal commons is a domain for inquiry into what’s beyond our understandings of individuality and commonality. It is a realm for exploring correlation between consciousness, energy, matter, volition, provision, behavior, evolution and the as-yet-to-be-discovered.

Sustainable progress with common resources requires progressing our consciousness of the underlying essentials of the interrelationships of commonality. As we re-negotiate our relationships with shared resources, the essential commons model is a tool for conscious evolution that offers access to our invisible commonality and our deepest resourcefulness.

I’ve done a lot of radio over many years but have never had a host who was literally raging from the political Far Right. Still, we agreed it’s time for transformation – not just the left or the right of the same old box. A new box – a new paradigm.

This quote provides often-overlooked context for whatever you’re working on:

“Everything that has ever happened in the history of the universe is the prelude to each of our lives. Everything that has happened from the beginning of time has become the platform from which we launch our lives.

We are the heirs of the long evolution of Spirit. Each of us is the latest unfolding of the event of Creation. Our bodies are composed of the material that was shaped in the Big Bang. And so, too, our spirits. The loving goodness of the universe breathes us and breathes through us, giving us life and consciousness, and the capacity to recognize and love others.”

We Have Come to Be Danced

by Jewel Mathieson

We have come to be danced
not the pretty dance
not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance
but the claw our way back into the belly
of the sacred, sensual animal dance
the unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box dance
the holding the precious moment in the palms
of our hands and feet dance

We have come to be danced
not the jiffy booby, shake your booty for him dance
but the wring the sadness from our skin dance
the blow the chip off our shoulder dance
the slap the apology from our posture dance

We have come to be danced
not the monkey see, monkey do dance
one, two dance like you
one two three, dance like me dance
but the grave robber, tomb stalker
tearing scabs & scars open dance
the rub the rhythm raw against our souls dance

WE have come to be danced
not the nice invisible, self conscious shuffle
but the matted hair flying, voodoo mama
shaman shakin’ ancient bones dance
the strip us from our casings, return our wings
sharpen our claws & tongues dance
the shed dead cells and slip into
the luminous skin of love dance

We have come to be danced
not the hold our breath and wallow in the shallow end of the floor dance
but the meeting of the trinity: the body, breath & beat dance
the shout hallelujah from the top of our thighs dance
the mother may I?
yes you may take 10 giant leaps dance
the Olly Olly Oxen Free Free Free dance
the everyone can come to our heaven dance

We have come to be danced
where the kingdom’s collide
in the cathedral of flesh
to burn back into the light
to unravel, to play, to fly, to pray
to root in skin sanctuary
We have come to be danced
WE HAVE COME

Just like Executives and Business Owners, Olympians use consultants to problem-solve. But unlike most business and civic leaders, Olympians invest in winning edge-focused coaching. Makes sense – top tier athletes don’t coach just to get over broken ankles, even if they’re recuperating from one. They coach for breakthroughs and transformation.

Likewise, top tier leaders don’t just coach to put out fires, they coach to sharpen and maintain their edge – to break through the status quo. I’ve recently shifted from calling my services “coaching” because “counsel” seems more appropriate. To me “counsel” embraces everything that coaches do but offers a greater depth of service.

Whether you’re squarely in the driver’s seat, changing vehicles, or ready for a radical sabbatical away from the steering wheel, good consulting can have a major impact on your effectiveness and efficiency for increasing:
profits, stakeholder loyalty, innovation, leadership and organizational capacity, excellence, vitality, work/life balance and team coherence.

Are you clear on your own set points between the data and your inner GPS?

Most of us are sub-consciously wonk-oriented by way of our cultural norms for valuing things like growth, numbers, domination and successive goal setting. At the same time, there is a universal ancestral wisdom and emerging cultural trend toward valuing values like compassion, partnership, inclusion, emergence, and transparency.

On the universal scale of yin and yang, Modern Industrial culture has highly valued the yang and seriously de-valued the yin. Just like electricity in the wall, it doesn’t work to have mostly one kind of charge. There’s a universal re-balancing going on and we’re all a part of it. Consciousness of that re-balancing brings greater ability to negotiate it.

Reflection Exercise: Take a few deep breaths. Once settled and centered, when you breathe in, imagine your breath going to that ever-shifting balance point between the wise and the wonky in your world. Breathe out any tension, charge, disorientation or unsettledness.

Practice everyday until you sense equanimity with that ever-dynamic balance point.